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Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas thinks Tesla's recent rally disproportionately reflects artificial intelligence excitement around the stock. The longtime Tesla bull downgraded shares
of the electric-vehicle maker to equal weight from overweight Thursday. He did raise his price target to $250 per share, but that implies downside of 3.6% from Wednesday's close. The
stock has rallied more than 32% over the past month alone and nearly 111% from the start of the year. "I have to be up-front with you all. While the team has defended the Tesla OW
rating all year, I did not see this 111% YTD rally coming (the S & P 500 is up 14% YTD, for context)," Jonas said. "We're not trying to call 'the end' to the
Tesla rally and from our discussions, continue to find a significant degree of investor skepticism/lack of exposure around the name." TSLA YTD mountain Tesla stock has climbed nearly
111% since the start of 2023. Jonas said the current stock price reflects "a more balanced risk/reward" skew, while Tesla has simultaneously benefited from the explosion of AI
stocks, which has pushed the EV maker's valuation higher. While Jonas thinks Tesla is both an AI and car company, its upside from the AI boom may have run out of steam. "While the
market may want to dream on the AI theme, we'd prepare to wake up to the sound of a blaring car horn," Jonas said. He added that Morgan Stanley still expects "material
negative revisions" for the company's earnings forecasts despite the recent rally and cited a lack of guidance as to whether Tesla has concluded its price-cutting campaign on key
vehicles. This marks the second downgrade for Tesla in two days from a major Wall Street bank. On Wednesday, Barclays lowered its rating on the stock to equal weight from overweight noting
that, "while we aren't surprised that the stock has participated in the rally, we believe it is prudent to move to the sidelines." — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to
this report.